brooks



(No1 Model.)

` EJ. BROOKS.

DRESS WEIGHT. No.268,76". Patented Deo. 5, 18821.

, T23@ eB WITNESSES N. PETERS. Pbolo'uumgnpmr, wqmingmn, u c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD J. BROOKS, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO E. J. BROOKS 86 UO., OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DRESS-wElGi-i'l.

SPECIFIATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 268,769, dated December 5, 1882.

' Application filed .my 15, 1882. (No model.)

T o all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD J. BROOKS, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the State of New Jersey, have invented new and usef'ul Improvement in Weights for Ladies Apparel, of which the following is a specitication.

Thisinvention relates to the construction of an articleof manufacture herein termed dress- 1o weights#7 employed by dress-makers in adapting the skirts and pendent parts of basques, polonaises, and like articles of ladies apparel to han g as desired. Heretofore simple leaden shot and imperforate disks of lead have been used, and have been secured in place,V singly, between two thicknesses of vfabric by stitching around each weight. This operation consumes considerable time, especially if changes in the l location of the weights become necessary, and

2o tends to expose the position and shape of the weights externally.

My presentinvention consists, first, in dressi weights, single. or multiple, composed of weights proper, of lead or other heavy substance, in the form of perforated or strung77 disks, with attaching-strips, upon which said disks are strung, said strips extending from the edges of said disks, so that each disk may be readily and tightly secured in place by a 3o few stitches -across a narrow attaching strip or strips, and without liability to expose the shape of the disks externally, while they may be temporarily held in place by pins or bastin gthreads with facility.

3 5 This invention consists, secondly,in a series of such dress-weight disks united at fixed distances apart. by an attaching strip or strips common to all, to facilitate handling them, and to facilitate attaching any number of sym- 4o metrically-arranged disks.

This invention consists, thirdly, in the combination of a series of such dress-weight disks and a iiexihle attaching-strip com mon to all, to facilitate draping an article of apparel so that it shall hang in symmetrical curves.

1n the drawings which accompany this specification, Figure` 1 isa face view, and Fig. 1x an edge view partly in section, of an illustrative multiple dress-weight embodying the several parts of my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 5o are face views of others partly in section, illustrating modifications. Fig. 4. is a face view ofauother; and Figs. 4X and 4, respectively a longitudinal section and an edge view of one of its disks, illustrating another modification. Figs. 5 and 6 are face views of two' others; and Figs. 7, 7X are respectively a face view and a longitudinal section ofa single7 dress-weight, 1 illustrating another modification of my said invention. 6o

A in the figures of each number represents an attaching-strip, which may be of cord or twine, as represented in Figs. 1, to 4, of soft. i wire, such as annealed brass, as represented in Figs. 5 and 6, or of tape, as represented in 65 Fig. 7, whichever may be most suitable for particular uses.

B in each of the figures represents a dress- Weight disk constructed according to my invention, so as to provide for stringing it, or so 7o that it isin process of manufacture strung upon an attaching strip or strips, A, and so that the latter shall extend from the edges of t-he disk, as represented by Figs. 1X, 4x, and 7X, so as to lie between two-thicknesses of fabric in the plane of the disk. This may be accomplished Vby casting the disk with a stringing hole or holes, h, parallel or substantially parallel toits faces,as represented in Figs. 1 to 3 and 7, 7X, to receive theattaching strip or strips; or the lat- 8c ter, of wire, maybe cast in in the process of manufacture, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6;

or the disk may have Stringing-holes h at right angles to its faces, with grooves g extending therefrom to the edges of the disk, as shown in Figs. 4 to 4H. The Stringing-hole h indicated in Figs. 7, 7x isti-at, to accommodate an attaching-strip of tape. The othersare round.

The disks B are secured at given distances apart upon the attaching-strips A in the form go ofjmultiple dress-weigh ts, or strings of dressweights, represented by Figs. 1, 2, by means of knots la, and in the form represented by Fig. by tying the cord or twine at the top of each disk, as represented at t; but the mode of strin ging illustrated byV Fig. 3, with that illustrated by Figs. 4 to et, renders.` it unnecessary to fasten the disks on the attaching- 2 Qosmio strips, and in the forms represented by Figs. 5 and 6 they are cast fast, while the form for single dress-Weights shown in Figs. 7, 7X lmay be fastened by forcing in one or both sides 0f the disk upon the strip by means of a punch, if desired, as indicated at p. The strips A and disks B may be thus united in process of manufacture, in continuous lengths, to be cut into sections of one or more disks by retailers or users. or, in the forms represented by Figs. 1 to 4 and 7, 7X, the disks may be furnished on cards, like buttons, to be strung by those who use them. `When the parts are united,as illustrated by Figs.l to 6, the multiple d ress-weight so i0 med is not simply handled more readily by manufacturer and retailer, but is more easily applied when 'a series of symmetrically-ar- 'ranged dress-Weight disks are needed.

With asingle flexible attaching-stripso combined with a series of dress-weight disks, as illustrated by Figs. 1, 3, and 5, the draping of an article ot' apparel in symmetrical curves by means of the weights is also greatly facilitated, as will be readily `seen by reference to Figs. l and 3.

Forarrangeinentin straightlines,thedouble strung multiple weights shown in Figs. 2 and 6' are preferable. For single weights an attaching-strip of tape, as shown in Figs. 7, 7X, is preferred. v

lido not claim broadly stiinging articles, nor

securing articles at regular distances apart upon strings, being aware that glass beads have been held at regular distances apart upon strings by means of pasteur cement.

Having thus described my said invention, I claiml. A dress-weightcompcsed of an attaching strip or strips and one or more at disks of lead or other heavy substance strung upon said strip or strips, said strip or strips extending from the edges of said disk or disks, sub-l stantially as herein set forth.

2. The combination, substantially as herein specified, of an attaching strip or strips and a series of fiat dress-Weight disks of lead or other heavy substance secured thereon attixed distances apart, said strip or strips extending from the edges ofsaid disks, for the purposes set forth. v

3. The combination, substantially as herein specified, of a single ijexible attachinglstrip and a series of flat dress-weight disks of lead or other heavy substance secured thereon at ixed distances apart, the former extending from the edges ofthe latter, for the purposes set forth.

EDVVAR D J. BROOKS. 

